Former Minister of Education, and Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, and her colleagues, Mr. Evans Rogers and Mr. Cardigan Connor, have expressed delight with the formal opening of a new classroom block of the Adrian T. Hazell Primary School. The Opposition Members were at the time speaking on their radio programme Just The Facts.
The opening of the new school block took place on Monday morning, December 6, with the Opposition members being among Government, education officials, students, their parents and other members of the public at the ceremony. The Opposition Members were particularly happy that the education project started under the administration of the Anguilla United Front Government.
Mrs. Richardson-Hodge observed that the Education Planner, Mrs. Dawn Reid, had provided some useful background information about the reconstruction of the school.
“Mrs. Reid provided a historical reference, or background, as to how the school came about – as she also did at The Valley Primary School,” Mrs. Richardson-Hodge stated. “What she did was to put it into context. As we have been saying throughout this programme, nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything starts from somewhere – and the redevelopment of the Adrian T. Hazell Primary School would have taken place in 2014 when the Executive Council made a decision to redevelop that school. That was under the AUM Government, not the AUF; and so the redevelopment plan was to upgrade the school so as to allow it to come into the 21st century because it was outdated and not really fit for purpose anymore.”
The Opposition Leader continued: “Hurricane Irma afforded us [the AUF] the opportunity to progress certain plans. The first phase would have been the newer block, prior to today, and that was the only block that remained standing after Hurricane Irma. They had to share classrooms and bring containers on property for the Principal’s office. The auditorium had to be demolished and there was a lot of damage to the school.”
She was pleased that the AUF Government, in which she was the Minister of Education, was able to obtain 60 million pounds from the UK Government – not only for the rebuilding of schools but also for health and other facilities as well. The Opposition Member went on:
“Going back to the Adrian T. Hazell School… and I am just smiling behind my mask – because I am so happy to see that the school has been completed. I went through the new lab and the new auditorium. The children are going to love their new space. It is a feat of engineering to see how the construction workers connected the existing building to the new structure. It is a modern school. There is a space now for the teachers’ lounge where they can enjoy themselves. I saw the Deputy Principal’s office and, through his or her office, you can see the entire area of the playing field because it is in a ‘u’ shape now. And so it was really good for me to be there for the formal opening ceremony.”
Both of her opposition colleagues, Mr. Evans Rogers, and Mr. Cardigan Connor, hoped that the children were being admonished to take care of their new school. They also referred to the fact that the former Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Curtis Richardson, had been intimately involved in the construction of the school and other schools on the island.
